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Thursday, November 29, 2012

As we kick off the holiday season with recently feasted,Thanksgiving, I'm here to contribute a list of even more shit that doesn't exist over here, thus, negating everyone's "I'm SO THANKFUL for my AMAZING LIFE [Insert Humble Brag here]" posts. Yerwelk.1) THANKSGIVING doesn't exist here.Though, I did receive a shocking number of "I hope you had a good thanksgiving" messages from the Frenchies in my entourage & at work (involuntary tear). So I'm grateful for their gratitude-consciousness, and my ability to take friday off to & spend the next 72 hours GORGING myself.I'm also thankful for stretch-pants.2) Black Friday could never, EVER exist here.What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. AMERICA?!? For once, I'm standing along side the French, shaking my head at you IDIOTS. The French are to logical for this. They value time and comfort much more than the dolla-dolla.This is what I imagine is going through their heads:"Hey! I know, let's get up at 1am, and go stand in line in the FREEZING cold for the next 14 hours with our BABIES and ELEVENTY BILLION other REALLY GRUMPY, COLD people so that we can save a total of 25 dollars!! It's totes worth getting shot, stabbed, trampled, punched in the ballsack, captain america action figure shoved up your asshole, or ANYTHING really to save a little money on all the christmas crap my child is demanding because he's a spoiled little f*cker!"3) Christmas Lists don't really exist here.I've started this tradition with my French family, but I think I'm definitely breaking some unknown "you're ruining everyone's Christmas if you tell them what you want to get because it's not a surprise you ass-fondling-douche-kayak" rule.4) Cyber Monday doesn't exist here.Am I the *only* one who saw this and thought to herself "Wow, they created an official cybersex day and decided it should be on a MONDAY? Kinky."The French aren't doing this afaik, and I have to admit, I don't see the point either. It's just another online sale, except this one sounds like it should be for dildos.5) Major sporting events are not scheduled for holidays.I know the French *loooooove* their soccer, but they don't do games on holidays. Holidays are for being together, eating food but not too much food, drinking wine, way too much wine, but they are certainly not about to schedule a soccer game on Christmas. At least, that's how the French see Thanksgiving... it's pre-Christmas-Christmas to them.But the U.S. is completely fine with ignoring each other for hours on end to watch a football game. If I'm being honest, I like both ways. Curling up on the couch to watch football with the fam is great. Sitting around drinking wine and chatting is great. I think we need to marry the two -- football game, while getting smashed and chatting... HEAVEN... as long as I have my own personal bowl of guacamole and a big glass of vino, you could smear poop on my face and punch me in the boob and I'd probably laugh it off.6) The need to stuff yourself into a coma doesn't exist here.Though food is important, for some reason my family over here doesn't feel the need to eat until their heart is about to explode. It's a time-honored American tradition to eat until you are close to passing out, then drink coffee to stay conscious, then eat pie until you're going to vom, then lay down. And France is the poorer for not recognizing the value in this. Then again, they look good in jeans. It's all about priorities.What would you add to this list?

Monday, November 26, 2012

Though in Paris the population seems to mostly fit into "Taille Petite" (a size small), this country has a decided love affair with foods made mostly, or entirely, OF FAT.I present to you, exhibits A through D as evidence there of:

A) Brie.Delicious, gooey, and equal parts pure lard and proteine, this French staple is always a part of holidays and Sunday dinners for the lactose tolerant. Though delicious, if you enjoy eating things that have been rotting for at least a month, this is technically worse than eating a giant spoonful of Betty Crocker frosting. (so says CalorieCount, who gives it a big FAT F, on the healthy scale.)

B) Cassoulet.The French cousin to our Pork & Beans. Vastly superior, naturally, instead of the random unidentifiable chunk of lard, the French went the extra mile to include several types of lardastic meats.This is basically a huge mound of fatty bacon with some beans and buttery sauce poured over the top to hide the fact that you're mainly eating BACON.I hope you enjoy the treadmill.

C) Tartiflette.If you enjoy Brie and Cassoulet, you're going to flip your shit over Tartiflette. Here's how it works: Boil potatoes. Fry a [BLEEEEEEEEEEP] ton of bacon. Combine & melt more cheese over the top than should be consumed by any one human being. Faceplant. Heartattack. Resuscitation efforts. Backwards floating out of the white tunnel. Alive again. Bite #2.I hope you have medical insurance.

D) Aligot.Are you F***ing kidding me? No seriously, IS THIS A JOKE?? This is a ruse I tell you. A trick to allow people to say "See? I'm eating mashed potatoes", when really it's pure effing cheese.

As if this weren't enough, this is typically served over some fatabulous sausage. So basically fat, mixed with carbs, served over fat.

I have to say, I'm surprised at how many different ways the French have found to serve potatoes + cheese + fatty meats. They're so damn creative.

So, with that in mind, it's surprising to see the sudden attack on the beloved, NUTELLA.Which, just to refresh your memory, looks like this --> It's nothing short of amazing that this country, so fond of Nutella in all it's hazelnuttery, could ever try to pass a law to tax it into oblivion.

If I have one very solid memory of my Francais classes in high school it is how much we all assumed the French venerated this product.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Holy shit. I know I've turned 30 when all my friends have started families. Year of the dragon my ass, it's year of THE BABY. They are popping up like fricken mushrooms, people.The French love babies. This is clear enough to me when strange people are constantly stopping to stare at my buddies' little ones to coo, ogle and often give totally inappropriate, unsolicited advice.What's odd is the way the French seem to respond to babyshowers.Not only does this beloved American tradition treasured since the 1950's not exist here, it's even less popular than picking up your dog's poop.The first one of my girlfriends to help me learn this lesson was French. When I offered to throw her a party at 7-months along, she looked at me like a giant cockroach was crawling out of my eye-socket, and I'd just suggested we take her baby out prematurely and turn it into a piñata. I explained that it was very common, and it would set her up for the months to come and she seemed agreeable to the idea. But as time passed, we couldn't find a suitable date, and I started to suspect her resolve to have a shower was wavering. Not being the kind of friend to force my beliefs on anyone, I let it roll, and bought her a gift which I delivered after the baby was born.The second one was also French, but since she really could benefit from friends and family chipping in to set her up for the new addition, her enthusiasm was without compare. Lots of us banded together for what was, to my great surprise, exactly like a sleep-over between 12yo girls except everyone but the mother-to-be was getting hammered.

Several other non-Americans were having showers hosted for them by their American friends, and I noticed a strange trend. At some point I would mosey over to a French woman to ask -- "So, how are you enjoying the festivities?".In response I got one of two things typically:a) deafening silence coupled with a really awkward shrug that was basically the type of answer you'd expect from someone offering you a free enema. I backed away slowly because sometimes that is immediately followed by..b) the LECTURE of the CENTURY about how WRONG it is to give your pregnant friends a gift before the baby is born.I found out that I was :- laughing in the face of destiny- preparing her for great sorrow should anything go wrong- a total ass-sprinkler for being such a BAD BAD friendFrom what I gathered, the French women at these parties expected no bother to be made for the mother while she's undoubtedly going through one of the most difficult things a woman can experience physically.So the difference imho is:Americans: YAY!!! Let's Have a party and celebrate the wonderful new addition with lots of gifts the mom-to-be will need! Let's be *optimistic* about this pregnancy and not assume the baby will die! I'll bring pigs in a blanket! Someone sign up for alcohol-free cocktails, WE NEED CUPCAKES WITH STORKS ON THEM, STAT!French: You, future-mother, are dead to me until that thing starts breathing on its own outside your humincubator. I don't want to celebrate your pregnancy because I feel celebrating it is like counting chicks before they've hatched. I prefer to give gifts after the birth when the you will be a sleep-deprived, baby-pudged-up, trainwreck with baby puke on her forehead and poo on her forearm when you feel the least like having visitors because you're trying to figure out how not to kill the new human you just pushed out of your snatch.While we're at it, I'm not sure how long you have left, so let's not celebrate your birthday until after it's happened. I know it's on a saturday this year for the first time in years, but tough tomatoes, you might get run over by a bus on Friday at 11:59 and then we'll have prematurely planned all these joyous festivities only to wallow in sorrow.

PS: I don't want to hear about how sore your boobs are when this is all over with.So, my advice to you dear readers, is:a) maybe don't invite the Frenchies?b) invite them, but tell them it's a party for non-superstitious people ONLY and if they're just going to pout during the whole thing or make faces or comments they can go get stuffed.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

It's about bloody time someone invented a pure-alcohol breath spray that hastily gets you loaded.My only regret is that I was living under a rock when this stark-designed miraculous discovery was unleashed on the world.Despite the genius involved here, I'm convinced that they got the name wrong. It's called "WA|HH Quantum Sensations Spray", when obvi it should've been named "WHOO HOOOOO Sensations Spray"!! Or, I've got it... maybe something like, "Immebriated". Hein?? Rolls of the tongue doesn't it?What's kind of a shame is that the effect only lasts for a few seconds. So, given that, here are a number of situations where a few seconds of instadrunk would be useful:- When my neighbors clomp around above me at 3am, and wide-awake I want to walk upstairs and render them unable to bear children with my own pair of steel-toed boots.- When that one ass-pirate runs through the crowded throng of people waiting infront your full metro train cabin, to slip in between the metro doors just soon enough to smash your genitals against some gross smelly man's ass.- Any time you're ordering in a restaurant.- Any time you're buying something in a store.- Any time you need help from anyone at any place for any problem.- When my husband kills my dreams of owning a puppy. Again.- When trying on jeans that should be my size but are actually a size -2,000 because the French are in fact miniature.- When I'm forced to go watch French melodramas at the movies. #sobad- Any time you need to "stand in line" here.- When someone asks if you're pregnant. Again. When you're a size 36. #pffffff- When someone tells you you look tired. Again.- When you accidentally step in poop. Again.Actually. It seems like it's probably a good idea that this thing isn't available to me. I'd probably be drunk constantly in this country.When would you use it?

Thursday, November 1, 2012

I wish I could say that this is my "vomit story", but yack and I have a long (long) history when it comes to transportation going all the way back to our family road trip across the US where I filled numerous bags full of stomach acid and half digested McNuggets. I've even blogged about some of the more awful ones in the past.But this story. This takes the cake. Please share your sympathies, vom stories, or let me know if you tried the service I'm suggesting at the end of this post (FREE SHIT, CHECK IT OUT!) & feel free to share your thoughts about it in comments.-----I had a business trip to Brussels a couple of weeks ago, one of those there & back in a day trips for an important partner. I had on my favorite power outfit, an electric blue dress, which is quite a step up from my favorite jeans with a hole in the crotchanal region that I keep stitching up no matter how many times it rips open from my ever fattening-arse.I got in the cab, for once I was early & feeling like this, blithely unawares of what had just happened. A few minutes into the voyage, I noticed it. Putrid can't really capture the rankitude that was the backseat of that cab.This was not your average lungbutter. It was like...leathal stealthchuk. Invisispew of the alien genre. I searched that backseat like I was looking for a winning lottery ticket, but unfortunately my only clue to where the affected area lie, was on my clothes.So I had a decision: get out and walk until I find another cab, and possibly miss my train, or just deal with it. Luckily, it was my trenchcoat that took the brunt of the stank, but still. NOT COOL.The driver said he had no idea. There are only two possible explanations for this:1) He's a lying SOB and I hope one day someone stomach fountains directly into his mouth.2) That smell was so noxious that shoved a red-hot poker up his nose to obliterate his olfactory sense entirely, because spending all day in that rolling horkbox is a kind of torture no smelling human being should ever be subjected to.Needless to say, the next time I needed a ride, I went with a different option. I've been touting the Snapcar service since they launched in August, and it's not only because they are ralph-free. The other day I was lucky enough to be driven around in an Aston Martin convertible!

So, the choice is apparently: Vomit-filled cars with clueless, rude drivers... or... Aston Martin-driving, awesome people who know where they're going and a kick-ass app system to support the whole deal. Tough call.There is good news though -- I told Snapcar about this incident, and they are offering my readers a discount so that no one should ever have to suffer my fate again. 10 euros off your first booking when you use the code "ASTONMARTIN"! (Get the app on your iphone to book, my post from this summer explains more.)Yerwelk.

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Discovering the truth about Parisians... one humiliating story at a time.
This blog is a caricature and I am the self-appointed queen of exaggerationland.
The highly sensitive, sarcastically-challenged, emotionally-constipated and humorless should jump ship immediately.
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